If you drive by Jackie Robinson Academy in Long Beach in early May, you might hear the cheers of happy families and the smell of sizzling pork from the annual Filipino Festival.
The event on May 9 held close to 80 vendors ranging from retail such as clothing, jewelry and souvenirs, to food such as pork belly, ube smash burgers and shaved ice. Community members lined up throughout the day to get nostalgic and authentic flavors from the Philippines.
Hundreds of people showed their support as they celebrated the annual festival while dancing, eating and laughing in the school’s auditorium.
Kent Clark, owner of the small business Fluffy Ice Delight, applied to be part of the event after seeing it promoted on Instagram. “This beats working in a nine to five job,” Clark said in between serving customers. The fluffy ice stays true to its name. Every scoop you take melts in your mouth, leaving a feeling of satisfaction along with the sweet taste of mango. The shaved ice provided a refreshing respite on the 80 degree Saturday.
The event also featured a lineup of Filipino artists and comedians such as Erik Escobar and RockaPelli. The Reál Deál band, which performs covers of songs from the ‘70s to 2000s consists of a sibling duo, Mitchell and Megan Villareal, as well as their father Mike.
Check out our video coverage of the festival here:
Mitchell is a Long Beach native and said he was happy to see the community show their support, both for their band and their culture.
“Our future goals is to book more gigs, and my sister is a songwriter so she’s trying to make it in the songwriting industry,” Mitchell said.
The festival’s executive director, Ralph Santos, took over the event from previous owner Anthony Formoso after 2019. Santos said he wanted to do something different with the festival and turned this year into a ‘90s themed event. A ‘90s Filipino look alike contest was one of many activities.
“A lot of people are doing ‘90s parties but I’m not sure if anyone has done a ‘90s Filipino festival before,” Santos said.
Ube was everywhere to be seen: in drinks, ice cream, milkshakes and cookies. The ube cookie from “All Things Ube” had a soft texture with a light glaze on top, giving it a slight crisp. It also had a rich fudge taste contrasting the delicious nutty flavor of the ube.
Chris Regner, a small business owner of the clothing line Isla Born, spent the day making connections with his fellow vendors and basking in the celebration. His shirts came in both a coffee brown color or vintage off-white, boasting designs featuring classic Filipino locations and traditions, such as a sari-sari store and people playing basketball in the streets of the Philippines. Each of the designs Regner created is meant to give the feeling of being back home.
“It means a lot being able to see us Filipinos gather around and come together in unity,” said attendee Justin Genilo.
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